Tesla supplier weighs Indonesia battery metal unit IPO

The Shenzhen-listed company is in talks with potential financial advisers for a Jakarta IPO that could raise at least $300 million, or as much as $500 million if the market is favorable, the people said. CNGR is in the process of preparing the Indonesian unit — which will include its smelter assets in the country — for listing, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Indonesia’s capacity to produce nickel matte, an intermediate product that can be further refined for use in electric vehicle batteries, could jump fourfold, according to a BloombergNEF report last month. Tesla Inc. struck long-term deals last year with existing suppliers CNGR and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. that will last through 2025, in a bid to secure supplies amid intensifying competition.

Deliberations are ongoing and CNGR could decide not to proceed with an Indonesian listing, the people said. A representative for CNGR declined to comment.

CNGR has two nickel matte production lines with a combined annual capacity of 27.5 kilotons, a post on its WeChat showed. It launched its nickel matte production line in Morowali Industrial Park in October last year, according to a statement on its website, and opened a second facility in Weda Bay in January.

Indonesia’s booming IPO market this year was led by miners, as the nation’s large reserves of nickel give it an edge to supply raw materials for electric vehicle batteries. In March, PT Trimegah Bangun Persada, also known as Harita Nickel, raised about $645 million in the country’s second biggest listing this year, while PT Merdeka Battery Materials raised $610 million in the third largest listing.